Support Builds for Corzine's Sales Tax Plan

By RICHARD G. JONES

Published: June 27, 2006

With support building for Gov. Jon S. Corzine's proposal to balance the state budget through a sales tax increase, the top legislator in the New Jersey General Assembly persisted on Monday in what increasingly seemed like an improbable effort to defeat the plan.

Moving closer to a confrontation with Mr. Corzine, Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. announced that he would submit an alternative budget that would not require raising the sales tax to 7 percent from 6 percent to offset a $4.5 billion budget shortfall.

The legislative maneuver by Mr. Roberts, who has led the opposition to the tax increase among Mr. Corzine's fellow Democrats, came on the heels of an early-morning announcement by the 10-member Assembly delegation from Essex County -- one of the largest and more influential groups in the chamber -- that they had broken ranks with the speaker and planned to support the governor's plan.

Not long afterward, State House officials, aides and lobbyists said that members of the Bergen County delegation -- also with 10 members -- as well as those from Hudson County were considering abandoning Mr. Roberts and supporting the governor's plan.

''Given that this is Corzine's first budget, it seems to me that this is something of a watershed moment,'' said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. ''Roberts is attempting to stake his claim as a player in the process.''

With just four days left until lawmakers vote on Mr. Corzine's $31 billion budget plan, Mr. Roberts said the Assembly Budget Committee would meet to consider a budget that did not increase the sales tax, and that might include elements of the Republican's proposed cuts.

Mr. Roberts, a Democrat of Camden County, made his intentions known soon after it was disclosed that last week he had in fact introduced a bill to raise the sales tax. The speaker said that he has advocated an increase to help offset the effects of the state's property taxes, which are among the highest in the nation, not to balance the budget.

But a spokesman for Mr. Corzine reiterated that the governor would not sign a budget that did not address the state's long-term fiscal problems.

''The governor has continuously said that he will not sign a budget that does not match recurring revenues with recurring expenses,'' said the spokesman, Anthony Coley. ''That continues to be his position.''

Still, State House observers said the move by Mr. Roberts was a strategic one: in essence, the speaker assured that if any tax increase is considered by the Legislature, he will be able to influence both the debate as well as where any money that it generates will be used.

''I will not post this bill -- or any other bill to increase the sales tax one penny -- for purposes of balancing the state budget,'' Mr. Roberts said in a statement.

Aides to Mr. Roberts said that the speaker met Monday with Republican leaders, who last week proposed $2.2 billion in budget cuts that they said would eliminate the need for a sales tax increase.

The events on Monday were the clearest sign yet that the budget debate had broken down into two camps: one led by the Mr. Corzine and to a lesser extent Senate President Richard J. Codey, who has acknowledged the need for a tax increase, and the other by Mr. Roberts.

Mr. Corzine's campaign for a sales tax increase was given a significant lift early Monday when the Essex County legislators said that they would support the increase.

Despite the support expressed by the Essex delegation, it was still unclear whether the Democrats have already secured the 41 votes necessary to pass the sales tax measure in the Assembly. Democrats have a 49-to-31 majority in the lower house.

Still, the Essex County Assembly members -- who are aligned with Mr. Codey -- represent an influential voting bloc in the lower house.

''Collectively, we looked at it and think that it's an important thing for us to support the governor as well as the most fiscally responsible thing to do in the long run,'' said Assemblyman John F. McKeon, one of the Essex legislators.

Mr. McKeon said that he and the other members of his delegation were convinced that the increase was the best way to deal with the state's recurring fiscal problems.

''You have to look at next year and the year after that and as far as long-term stability, it's time for us to pay the bills,'' Mr. McKeon said.

Still Democrats remain divided over whether the increase is the best solution. ''You know how to make a banana split -- you cut it and put ice cream in the middle? We're the banana,'' said Assemblyman Joseph Cryan of Union County, who is also the chairman of the Democratic State Committee. ''There're a lot of concerns. Nobody wants to do this. We're just concerned about making sure that it's the right policy for the state.''